The fragments of the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War must always be cleaned up by someone, but everyone knows that whether the negotiations in Japan are successful or not, as a defeated country, the final compensation for the cession of land will be indispensable. At this time, naturally no one wanted to be a sinner, Cixi began to recuperate on the grounds of physical discomfort, Guangxu sent two envoys to Japan, Ito Hirobumi did not buy it at all, and clearly pointed out that he would talk to two people, one was Prince Gong Yi? The other is Li Hongzhang, Yi? It is a royal person, if you go to negotiate on the one hand, it is out of order, because the representative sent by Japan is Ito Hirobumi, who is the prime minister of Japan and not the Japanese imperial family. If the name is called back, it is equivalent to the royal back to the name, which is tantamount to worsening for the Qing court that has just been defeated, Li Hongzhang has become the only candidate for the Qing court in this negotiation, Li Hongzhang knows that he can not shirk it, he can only accept it, but he never wants to bear this insult himself, because the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War is not his problem alone, this is to talk about Li Hongzhang's position, although Li Hongzhang sounds like a big official, he is not a military minister, that is, he is not a core decision-maker.
Among the core decision-makers, the one who made Li Hongzhang the most angry was Hubu Shangshu Weng Tonggong, who was a representative figure of the late Qing Dynasty Qingliu Party, and could not get along with Li Hongzhang everywhere; on the one hand, Li Hongzhang belonged to the Cixi faction, and on the other hand, Li Hongzhang was engaged in the Beiyang Water Division outside the country, and they believed that the Beiyang Water Division was Li Hongzhang's private army, and if the development was too strong, Li Hongzhang was likely to endanger the imperial court with self-respect, and as the Hubu Shangshu Weng Tonggong was in charge of money.
Li Hongzhang certainly can't do it without money to develop the army, but Weng Tonggong did not give Li Hongzhang money for various reasons, resulting in the slow renewal of the equipment of the Beiyang Marine Division, and it is conceivable how much Li Hongzhang hated him, but this time weng Tonggong and Li Hongzhang sided with Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang made it clear that he could not cut the land when he negotiated and lost money, Weng Tonggong immediately expressed his full support for Li Hongzhang, as long as he did not cut the land and lost more money, he would find a way to raise it, Li Hongzhang heard that the fire was even bigger, I asked you for money to expand the armaments, you have no money, and now you are so generous in losing money So he had to pull Weng Tonggong together to negotiate, Weng Tonggong was an old adulterer, and immediately told Guangxu that he had not done foreign affairs, and that he was a raw melon egg on this occasion, which was definitely not suitable, and finally escaped a disaster.
Li Hongzhang could only go to Japan alone, and at this time many people realized that the Beiyang minister of the Qing Dynasty was actually going abroad for the first time. The situation of this negotiation was very complicated, the situation in East Asia at that time was that the Western powers were rampant, and who they supported sympathized with whom, who took the initiative, that is to say, even if the Japanese Kou had an absolute advantage in this war, it did not mean that they could make demands unscrupulously in the negotiations, Ito Hirobumi and others naturally saw this, so at the beginning of the negotiations, the Japanese Kou were very tough, they knew very well that if they wanted to gain greater benefits at the negotiating table, they must have greater victories, and the Japanese Kou side had already made plans. It was planned to engage in a decisive battle with the Qing army in the Zhili Plain.
Just when the negotiations were stalled, Li Hongzhang was actually assassinated, but fortunately Li Hongzhang's life was not in danger, but this incident made the Japanese side immediately nervous, the negotiators were assassinated, which is a serious violation of international justice, if the Qing court takes advantage of this, it is likely to attract the interference of the Western powers, the Japanese Kou on the one hand to Li Hongzhang the strictest protection and the best treatment and various apologies and appeasement, on the other hand, intend to seriously sit down to negotiate, and reduce the requirements, The negotiations were concluded at a time when the Western powers were hesitant to intervene in the Sino-Japanese War.
Li Hongzhang was keenly aware of the panicked mentality of the Japanese Kou, and sent a telegram suggesting that the Guangxu Emperor interrupt the negotiations and use the public opinion of Britain and the United States to make Japan have some restraints at the negotiating table, at this moment Guangxu's youth and the short-sightedness of politics were reflected, he did not agree to Li Hongzhang's suggestion, but asked Li Hongzhang to take the opportunity to bargain with the Japanese Kou to continue the negotiations, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to continue to fight alone at the negotiating table, and more unfortunately, the Japanese Kou had already deciphered the Qing court's code, and already knew that Guangxu did not adopt Li Hongzhang's opinion. Itō Hirobumi instantly hardened, and in the end Li Hongzhang could only sign the "Maguang Treaty" with the Japanese Kou in helplessness.